THE OPEN FILE

Prosecutorial Misconduct and Accountability

Several years ago, we covered a case in which a federal district court granted a Pennsylvania man a new trial because prosecutors failed to turn over police records relating to one of their key witnesses. It seems the witness in question had a lengthy history of being...

A recent Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals opinion sheds light on a seemingly classic tale of prosecutorial misconduct. It involves a scandalously discredited detective, an affidavit from an experienced prosecutor so flawed that it reads like a second-year law student...

It’s no secret prosecutors accused of discriminating against prospective jurors in jury selection usually get away with excluding the jurors they do not want to serve. What is remarkable, however, is that even prosecutors who document plans to strike jurors on the...

Kareem Bellamy’s conviction, release, and post-release litigation are a thicket of prosecutorial misconduct, witness flip-flopping, and allegations of defense team misconduct. The National Registry of Exonerations has a helpful, detailed explanation here. Over at...

It is difficult to let too many months pass without wading into the cesspool of prosecutorial misconduct that District Attorney Douglas Valeska cultivated for some 30 years. In the 20th Judicial Circuit of Alabama (covering Houston and Henry counties), Valeska’s 2016...

Today, we take a brief look at a capital conviction in Florida that raises eyebrows. It is no secret to regular readers that death sentences often represent the prized result of prosecutions infected by State misconduct. In case after case after case after case from...

Louisiana is often featured on the Open File. The jurisdiction is a hotbed of prosecutorial misconduct, and compelling stories emerge from it with regularity. In 2016, we wrote: Even casual criminal justice observers know that Louisiana has a uniquely sordid history...

Last week, the ACLU of Massachusetts and the Public Defender Division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services filed a petition in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (the state’s highest court). In it, the petitioners have requested that the Court dismiss...

On September 15, The News Tribune published this excellent article, which explained: “Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist faces a possible disciplinary hearing that could lead to the suspension of his license to practice law and threaten his ability to continue to...

Last term, the Supreme Court addressed the prosecutorial duty to disclose exculpatory evidence, also known as the Brady rule, in just one case, Turner v. U.S. As we explained here, “the Court took a fact-specific, narrow approach” and did not address any broader legal...

Thomas A. Carroll, a former detective in St. Louis, is currently serving a 52-month prison sentence for a crime he committed in the summer of 2014. Carroll pled guilty to violating the civil rights of Michael Waller by brutally assaulting him while he was handcuffed...

A man who once awaited his execution will now receive an entirely new trial due to multiple errors committed by the state. Kenneth Simmons was convicted in Dorchester County, South Carolina for the 1996 rape and murder of Lily Bell Boyd, and was sentenced to death for...

A recent report recommends that the Wisconsin Supreme Court severely discipline former Kenosha County District Attorney Robert Zapf for serious ethical violations he committed while prosecuting Markese Tibbs and Joseph-Jamal Brantley for murder in 2015. Zapf, who...

Three decades. That’s how long Terry Williams has been under a sentence of death for killing Amos Norwood. As we covered here almost five years ago, a state court judge in 2012 ruled that Mr. Williams deserved a new penalty phase because the prosecutors withheld...

It took some time, but Judge Thomas M. Goethals in Orange County finally resolved a defense motion to preclude capital punishment against the defendant in People v. Dekraai. James Queally of the LA Times put it well: “The county’s beleaguered law enforcement leaders...